The desire for self-closing refrigerators led engineers many years ago to develop spring-biased mechanisms for biasing refrigerator doors inadvertently left open toward a closed position. Refrigerators equipped with self-closing doors can reduce energy loss due to heat exchange with ambient, and prolong the life of refrigerated foods. As is the case with many high tech features for home appliances, self-closing doors invariably increase the cost and complexity of refrigerators and are typically available only on higher-end models. In addition, the difficulty in placing the necessary components within the hinge mechanism of refrigerator doors alone, apart from expense, has led some manufactures to limit self-closing doors as a design option.
In an attempt to render some refrigerators capable of self-closing, the appliances are sometimes positioned on a slight incline such that the doors will have some tendency to return toward a closed position under the force of gravity. Aside from the aesthetic undesirability of such a strategy, various of the refrigerator components are designed to best operator in an upright manner, and tilting one's refrigerator from its intended orientation can actually increase wear on certain of the components or reduce efficiency. Despite the familiar drawbacks of leaving the door to the fridge open, many conventional refrigerators have no means to deal with this problem.
The present disclosure is directed to one or more of the problems or shortcomings set forth above.